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Small Reminders/Updates & The Coldplay Messenger (feat. Roadie #42!)

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And the 'Back to the Future' shirt on the other days

tee hee

 

Oh and don't forget the Springsteen one on Sunday's:laugh3::P

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That was.. okay.. better than the last one I guess.

According to some people's theories on here about capitalized phrases in quotes, this could be a song title.

I noticed other things were in quotations throughout the blog, but those weren't capitalized. This is.

 

Oooh. :stunned: I do like the sound of that! :nice: Yaay, I'm getting all excited. :wacky:

I can't say that I believe "All That Remains" would end up on the album, but even just thematically it seems to fit within what we heard from Wedding Bells. I realize songs move all about with themes and ideas, but there's something melancholy about that title and about Wedding Bells. Obviously...I'm just searching for stuff. Could all be untrue for all I know!

What do you say about the mysterious demo songs on YouTube?

Do you think they are real and no fake?

Yeah, but they just talk about Plan B and Wedding Bells.

I meant the demos by TheColdplayUnheard. Demos like Bending Light, 2 Hearts and so on.

^http://coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70566

brepthmb.jpgArt history #3 (Blue Room EP)

October 8, 2010 11:21 am

We hear from the designer of the cover for Coldplay's first Parlophone release

 

It took us a little while, but we managed to track down Tim Moore, the man responsible for designing the cover of Coldplay's first release for Parlophone, The Blue Room EP, which was released almost exactly a decade ago, on October 11th 1999. Tim was kind enough to answer the questions we emailed about the cover.

 

coldplay.jpg

 

Hi Tim. So, how did you come to design the cover for the Blue Room EP?

It was a lucky one, I had just graduated from Edinburgh College of Art & was in London planning a trip to Japan funded by the Royal Society of Arts I was discussing my work with a friend who had popped round and was mates with Claire O'Brien at Parlophone. He gave me Claire's contact details, I made contact and showed her my portfolio at EMI. Luckily she really liked my sketchbooks, so she held onto them and mentioned she would show them to a new band she was working with, I was called back into Parlophone soon after that & ended up meeting with Chris and the band at their flat in Camden.

 

Was it among the first covers you designed?

I had done a few covers for Electronic Music artists - Global Communication but yes it was early days in terms of my commercial work

What had you trained in at college?

I trained as a Graphic Designer on the Visual Communication course at Edinburgh College of Art. I did my dissertation on the visualisation of music & that subject continues to fascinate & inspire my work.

 

Was there a specific brief for the Blue Room EP?

Both the band & the label had some ideas of how they wanted the cover to look, I remember feeling pretty hemmed in by the process. At that time I had no studio of my own and laptops were a bit out of reach on my budget, so due to time restraints and the way it all turned out I did the design in the basement of the EMI building in Kensington. It was full of people busy artworking EMI communications, this gave me my first taste of the realities of Commercial art for major record labels.

 

Who was responsible for picking the image and why was it chosen?

Chris Martin had this book on the National Geographic Photographer David Doubilet called 'Water Light Time' published by Phaidon. It contains incredible images of marine life & I was also really interested in underwater photography so it was decided to work with several images from the book. We had to contact the photographer's agent and request the rights to the eventual image, in the end the image of a delicate coral in the hand worked best within the 12-inch format.

 

Were there lots of different options for the cover?

Not really no. It was a choice between 5 potential images and the coral in the hand worked best within the frame. Then it was a case of working with type to best balance the information with the beauty of the image itself.

 

Were the band involved with the process?

Not after the first meeting, no. I remember they gave feedback on the first visuals and liked the crop and the way in which the cover felt using a simple layout & clean typography.

 

I remember wondering how I could work more of my own ideas on this job, but to be honest at this time pure typography alongside photography didn't play to my strengths. This was a lesson to me & soon after I ended up working for one of Europe's top designers for 3 years to greatly improve my typographic skills.

 

Were you a fan of Coldplay's music? Obviously it was very early days for them.

I had never heard of them before I received an early copy of the EP & knew straight away that they had a sound that would go on to be very popular. It wasn't my kind of sound, but I did appreciate the production even then, the Bigger Stronger & High Speed tracks felt like well-honed pop records. I was fresh out of college, & had been djing and producing underground dance music since I was 16 so I didn't take the music as seriously as I might have. I would certainly take the cover in a new direction now, but hindsight is a luxury of the past.

 

How much time did you spend on the design?

Probably about a week as I also did a promo mail out in the form of the coral from the cover image. I remember thinking the CD worked best, as the Digipac opened up and the CD on body was the coral with the hand sitting behind it under the clear tray to make it seem as you were removing the coral from the hand. It's such a beautiful image and ended up working well across formats with the tone of the EP.

 

Were you pleased with the finished result?

I learnt a lot on the job and it was great to work with an image of such power, but I had little creative freedom & when the vinyl came out the record company had placed this huge white limited edition box below the type in the lower left hand corner without consulting me, which completely messed the entire balance of the cover and just felt like such a careless thing to do… I was pretty shocked by that to tell you the truth.

 

And what do you think of it now?

The cover is really the photograph & the photograph is excellent so it certainly works as an arresting image & fits the music well in terms of the mood, with almost ten years having passed there are lots of things I would change especially the type on the back - it makes me cringe. It's probably the worst bit of typesetting I have ever let out into the world but as a cover it works well.

 

The EP goes for quite a bit on eBay now - do you still have a copy?

Yes I still have copies of the CD and vinyl release + some very rare and rather basic blank colour versions that have a varnished finish to them. I was lucky enough to be given the 0001 copy of the 12 inch so if anyone wants the first ever limited release of Coldplay's Blue Room EP on Parlophone make me an offer! It's been in my portfolio for some time, so it's pretty mint.

 

Do you tell people about your role in Coldplay's career?

It's always been a useful door opener when it came to working for other labels & design companies, but it's nearly ten years ago now so I don't tend to bring it up that often. I am still proud to have been involved though.

 

Have you designed many covers since?

I have designed quite a few, but mainly for independent labels as on the whole that's where I find a lot of the music I love. I designed the Nigeria Special series for Soundway records & created designs for other releases on that label.

 

nigeriaspecial.jpg

 

Tim's Nigeria Special covers

 

I Art Direct the House music label Prime Numbers out of Manchester, I also designed much of the early firecracker records releases & I am currently working on a new label for Electronic Sound records.

 

firecrackerfront.jpg

 

One of Tim's Firecracker designs

 

Are you still designing? What do you work on these days?

As Art director of Nth Creative I get to design lots of different things which is how we like it, although we make sure thats it's for things we like which sometimes reduces the big fees but keeps us inspired & engaged.

 

I design logos for companies such as Canongate books, websites for Galleries & a lot of work for the music industry. I am currently designing my brother's new record label, I have just finished the cover for my new record which is out now… It's a track called Shake Your Body Down by Discreet Unit on Prime Numbers. I am also trying to get time to design our new website as the current site is about 3 years out of date.

 

 

Shake Your Body Down by Discreet Unit

 

I am a visiting lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art, although since moving to Cornwall the visits have become less frequent. And when I get the time beyond all that I am doing up an old barn in Cornwall which I hope to turn into a studio in the very near future.

 

And do you still keep an eye on Coldplay's progress?

I listen to a wide spectrum of music, but to be honest Coldplay's sound is not regularly on my system. I did like the last album & could certainly hear the effect Brian Eno had in terms of the production, it's great that they have been so successful & I hope it all stays positive for them.

Big thanks to Tim for taking the time to answer our questions.

 

 

http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=655

^he really doesn't like coldplay :rolleyes:

I'll copy this over to the art history thread, hopefully Anna won't mind if I just steal her post. :tongue:

^he really doesn't like coldplay :rolleyes:
and he tries to say it ever-so-nicely

^I know but he cant hide the fact that he is not into coldplay

^I know but he cant hide the fact that he is not into coldplay

 

I know!!:laugh3: that's what I thought while reading it! At least he sounds polite...

Maybe that's why it took 3 months for the update; they had to keep going back and asking they guy to rephrase his dislike in a more polite manner. :lol:

Maybe that's why it took 3 months for the update; they had to keep going back and asking they guy to rephrase his dislike in a more polite manner. :lol:

 

:laugh3::laugh3::laugh3:

Roadie#42: " in question number 8, could you please change "of course not, I thought it was rubbish" to " It wasn't my kind of sound" or something along those lines? "

Tim, guy who did the cover: "hmmph, fine, but it's the last answer I'll change"

ascap-logo.jpg

Coldplay win two ASCAP awards

October 15, 2010 12:19 pm

Band win Songwriters of the Year and Song of the Year

 

Good afternoon. We're pleased to report that, this week, Coldplay were double winners at the annual awards ceremony held in London by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The band won Songwriters of the Year and Song of the Year (for Viva La Vida) - the 10th and 11th ASCAP awards they've bagged.

 

Although the band didn't go to the ceremony (too busy working on the new album...), they did send a video message. The awards were collected on the night by Caroline Elleray, Coldplay's long-standing publisher and friend.

 

Anchorman

ascap-logo.jpg

Coldplay win two ASCAP awards

October 15, 2010 12:19 pm

Band win Songwriters of the Year and Song of the Year

 

Good afternoon. We're pleased to report that, this week, Coldplay were double winners at the annual awards ceremony held in London by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The band won Songwriters of the Year and Song of the Year (for Viva La Vida) - the 10th and 11th ASCAP awards they've bagged.

 

Although the band didn't go to the ceremony (too busy working on the new album...), they did send a video message. The awards were collected on the night by Caroline Elleray, Coldplay's long-standing publisher and friend.

 

Anchorman

 

They must be working *really* hard on the new album if they're too busy to go to an awards ceremony in their hometown for a few hours... :dozey:

I was kind of hoping they would post the acceptance video with the story.

Coldplay in Top 1000 Songs book

October 15, 2010 4:12 pm

Band feature heavily in new Xfm publication

 

 

Good afternoon. Twelve years after Coldplay lost a demo tape competition on London radio station Xfm, the band are now featured in a new book listing the Top 1000 Songs of All Time. In fact, an amazing 13 Coldplay songs are featured in the entertaining book, which is based on Xfm listener votes over the years.

 

If you'd like to get hold of a copy, Amazon UK currently have the book on offer for £12 - click here to check it out.[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1904027962?ie=UTF8&tag=coldplaycom-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1904027962]The Xfm Top 1000 Songs of All Time: Amazon.co.uk: Xfm: Books[/ame] You can also look at some preview pages at that link.

 

Anchorman

Hey. I'm trying to find out which Roadie #42 blog has the picture of the amps all miced up, can anyone help?

What does "miced up" mean? :uhoh: Typo of mixed up? :uhoh:

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